in botany, the popular name of a common hardy evergreen garden shrub known botanically as Viburnum Tinus, with rather dark-green ovate leaves in pairs and flattopped clusters (or corymbs) of white flowers, which are rosecoloured before expansion, and appear very early in the year. It is a native of the Mediterranean region, and was in cultivation in Britain at the end of the 16th century. Viburnum belongs to the natural order Caprifoliaceae and includes the common wayfaring tree (V. Lantana) and the guelder rose (V. Opulus).